Installation problems.

During installation the program asks me to select a JRE or MRJ but there are none listed.

The installation seemed to go ok but when I try to start the program I get an error message which may or may not mention "ListFiles".

How do I extract the update files so that I have the most current version?

Problems during use.

When I perform a search of patterns, the results do not seem to match the parameters I set.

Perfect Patterns finds patterns that are supposed to meet my parameters, but when I try to view them, the patterns displayed are different than those selected.

When I enter patterns into the calendar and then have it perform calculations, I keep getting a message about an invalid pattern number.

Problem: The installation seemed to go ok but when I try to start the program I get an error message which may or may not mention "ListFiles".
Solution: The JRE/MRJ version you selected during installation is out of date and does not support a function that Perfect Patterns uses. Go to the installation page and follow step 1 to download and install a JRE/MRJ. Afterward, try installing Perfect Patterns again.

Problem: How do I extract the update files so that I have the most current version?
Solution:
If you have WinZip, PKZip or some other program that can "unzip" files:

1. The easiest way to update your copy of Perfect Patterns is to download the zipped file rather than the self-extracting file.
2. Open the zipped update file with the program you wish to use for extracting the files. For illustration purposes I'll be giving directions for using WinZip.
3. On the Actions menu, choose "Select All" to select all files.
4. On the Actions menu, select "Extract". A new window will open.
5. The "Extract To:" box will most likely contain the name of your computer temporary folder. This is NOT what we want.
6. In the "Folders/Drives:" box you should see several choices. One of those choices should be your Local Disk or Local Drive which is most likely C:
7. To the left of that drive you should see a small + (plus sign). Click on the plus sign and several options should appear below C:
8. Assuming your installation was typical, one of the options should be "Program Files". Click on the + to the left of that folder.
9. Below Program Files you will most likely see a folder named "ppp". Click on the name of the folder (not the + to the left of the name, but the name itself). The "Extract To:" box should now contain the location of your Perfect Patterns folder. If your installation location is different, use similar techniques to find the location of your Perfect Patterns folder.
10. Click on the "Extract" button. If asked if you want to replace existing files, yes you do.
11. If you start Perfect Patterns you should see the new version listed on the title bar.

1. Download the self-extracting update file and run it.
2. When you do a window should pop up. On that window you'll see an "Unzip to Folder:" box. You'll have two choices:
   
   a) Either accept the default folder, in which case you might want to write down the location for further reference or...
   
   b) Manually type in the name of a folder to which you want the files extracted. This can be your Perfect Patterns folder or any other folder you like. However, you will have to enter the location manually.



3. Click on the "Extract" button to extract all files.
4. If you did not manually enter the location of your Perfect Patterns folder, you will now need to move the files you just extracted from their current location to your Perfect Patterns folder. If you manually entered the location of your Perfect Patterns folder, you are done.
5. Start Windows Explorer. This should be located somewhere on your Start... Program Files menu but the location may vary depending on which version of Windows you have. On XP you'll find it in the Accessories menu.
6. Windows Explorer will contain two main windows. On the left you'll see a list of Folders and on the right you'll see a list of all files contained in the folder which you select on the left side.
7. On the left side you'll most likely see a few options which each have a + (plus sign) to the left of them. Clicking on the + will expand the display to include sub-folders for that folder.
8. Expand the folders to find two specific folders:
   
   a) The folder that holds the files you just extracted and...
   
   b) The folder that contains Perfect Patterns (most likely c:\program files\ppp)



9. Click on the folder (on the left side) that contains the files to be moved. This should display the files you want on the right side of the window.
10. Use the slider bar to move up or down the folder list so that you can see the folder that contains your Perfect Patterns files. Be careful not to click on another folder or you will not be able to see the list of files you want anymore.
11. On the right side, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and use your left mouse button to click on all the files you want to move. It is possible that your 'temporary' folder has other files in it besides those you extracted for Perfect Patterns. Most of the time, the files you want to move for Perfect Patterns will begin with either ppp or Calendar and end in .class. There may be other files such as updated help files but they will not be critical for the update. However, if you can determine that they belong to Perfect Patterns by their name select them too.
12. Using your right mouse button, drag the selected files from the right side of the window and drop them on your Perfect Patterns folder on the left side of the window.
13. Windows will most likely give you a menu of options. Assuming you dropped the files on the correct folder, go ahead move the files.
14. You should now be done. You can close Windows Explorer and start Perfect Patterns.

• You set the parameters but forgot to check the box so Perfect Patterns would use it.
• You used an incorrect format when setting the parameter. Check the help file for proper data formats and ensure you used it correctly.
• You may have found a bug. If you think you have, send Bob an e-mail at bobpatch5@msn.com. Be sure to provide as much detail as possible about what you tried and what seemed to go wrong. Include the file you used, the parameters you set including the format, and what results you think were in error.

1. Search for and find all copies of the file "patterndetails.html". You will most likely find more than one.
2. Delete all copies of the file.
3. Start Perfect Patterns and perform a sort that finds results.
4. Try to display the results. This will create a new copy of patterndetails.html.
5. Use the menu item File... Reset File Locations.
6. Try to display the results again. You should now see the correct patterns.

1. Start any text editor such as Notepad or Wordpad.
2. Use the program to look in your Perfect Patterns folder to find and open the file "ppp.txt". If you use a PC, your Perfect Patterns folder is most likely c:\program files\ppp
3. Near the top of the file you'll find lines that look something like this:
   
   Browser: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE
   Local: C:\Program Files\pp\patterndetails.html
   
   Yours will probably look a bit different but it should be similar.



4. Leave one blank space after "Browser:" but delete everything else on that line.
5. Leave one blank space after "Local:" but delete everything else on that line.
6. Leave all other lines as they are.
7. Save your changes. Be sure to save the file as a text file. That is, no word processor formatting.
8. Start Perfect Patterns. If it is already running, use the menu item File... Reset File Locations.
9. After Perfect Patterns finishes finding the files it needs, try displaying search results.

1. Manually edit the "Browser:" and "Local:" lines to reflect the location of your browser and the "patterndetails.html" file. Please note that there is one blank space between the colon and the start of the file location. Also note that the location includes the name of the file.
2. Save your changes, again, being sure to save the file as a text file.
3. Start Perfect Patterns and try to display search results again.

• The pattern does not start on the date you selected.
• You have the incorrect month selected for the calendar. Perfect Patterns defaults to the current month. If you are looking at data for next month, use the left and right buttons to change the calendar month to the correct month.
• The file you are using does not contain data for the month you think it does. View a couple patterns being careful to compare dates with days of the week to see if they match the month you think they do.
• You entered an incorrect pattern number.
• You've found a bug. Write Bob at: bobpatch5@msn.com and give him all the details including the file you were using, the pattern number, and the date you tried to use it on.